Rhode Island Computer Museum

EDUCATION - COMPREHENSIVE PROF. DEVELOPMENT AND PROVIDED VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS IN RI MA and CT. RICM and BlocksCAD signed a partnership agreement. It will provide STEM education workshops for children ages 10-14. The goal of this component is to teach children the basics of computer assisted design CAD with an easy-to-use blocks-based programming interface. RICM also signed a partnership agreement for Fabrication Festival. Due to the impact of COVID the Internet is a lifeline for more people than ever. Many older adults who do not have strong technology skills will need assistance to perform necessary activities online. Our goal is to assist older adults who need help with technology issues.

PARTNERSHIPS: In 2023 RICM completed an independent peer review through the American Alliance of Museums AAM. This was accomplished under the Museum Assessment Program MAP which is supported by a cooperative agreement between the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the American Alliance of Museums. The Museum Assessment Program MAP is a national voluntary program which helps museums strengthen operations plan for the future and meet standards through self-study and a consultative site visit from an expert peer reviewer. Since 1981 over 5,000 museums have participated in over 6,500 assessments. 2023 was the third year of RICM's partnership with The Greenpower F24 program which aspires to advance education in the subjects of engineering and technology for young people ages 9 to 25. Students are introduced to the Greenpower Challenge2 with activities including the development of a program for their school's participation

HISTORIC PRESERVATION: Procured and preserved items that relate to computer science and its history was our goal. This included disseminating knowledge research and the restoration of serval rare computers. Restorations included analog computer PDP 9 Intel machine and others. Employees from Dassault Systemes returned in September to volunteer for another day of service below re-organizing and inventorying the contents of several boxes from the RICM text collections. We held several seminars.